With a trip to the Big 12 tournament championship on the line, No. 2-seed Texas edged out No. 6-seed TCU in Kansas City.

On Thursday, the Longhorns cruised to a victory over Oklahoma State without senior forward Timmy Allen, who missed his first game of the postseason due to a lower leg injury.

Without Allen once again, Sir’Jabari Rice, graduate guard and Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year, filled in for his second start this season.

The game tipped off and senior Dylan Disu picked up where he left off, filling the stat sheet. The forward from Pflugerville, Texas scored 10 of Texas’ first 19 points, registered two rebounds and one assist, block and steal each. He ended the half with a team-high 12 points while also leading the team in rebounds with three.

The story of the first half, however, was Texas’ rebounding advantage. Without leading rebounder Allen, the Longhorns still held the advantage 21-13. This led to more possessions for Texas which played a big role in its halftime lead, 34-26.

Although the Horns weren’t shooting the ball well from beyond the arc, they scored 28 points in the paint thanks to the stellar play of Texas’ forwards.

This continued into the second half. The Longhorns scored their first six points in the paint, one of which on a putback slam from graduate forward Christian Bishop that brought the crowd to their feet.

Bishop contributed in a big way while Disu was on the bench with three personal fouls. The Creighton transfer racked up 11 points and swatted two shots away in his first 15 minutes of action.

Despite the great things the Texas bench was providing, TCU was still threatening. The Horned Frogs were shooting tremendously from the 3-point line, keeping them in the game. A small run forced Texas head coach Rodney Terry into a timeout with 12 minutes to go and the Longhorns only up three, 46-43.

Terry must’ve talked some life into the team, because after the timeout, the Longhorns went on an 8-0 run led by Disu and Bishop, who don’t often share the court at the same time, but have recently due to Allen’s injury.

TCU kept fighting though, and it was a four point game with 4:43 to go after junior guard Mike Miles Jr. nailed a triple as he built on an improved second half.

That was the last shot that the Horned Frogs hit until five seconds remained on the clock, however. Texas’ defense came up huge down the stretch, but a couple of makes from the free throw line put the game on ice for the Longhorns, 66-60.

Bishop and Disu led the way for Texas, each contributing 15 points and shooting a combined 11-for-19. They also stepped up in the rebound department, combining for 15 in the absence of Allen.

This win sets up a third date with the No. 1-seed Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday. The two teams split the regular season series, with each winning at home.

The Jayhawks will be without head coach Bill Self due to illness, but it will be a hard-fought matchup nonetheless with a Big 12 tournament title on the line.